McLean, Va. -- The Convention Industry Council (CIC) has added two more groups to its roster of meetings industry associations: the Association of Collegiate Conference and Events Directors-International and the International Association of Association Management Companies.Thirty-two organizations, representing more than 103,500 people and more than 17,300 meetings-related firms and properties, now belong to CIC.Thomas Mobley, Jr., chairman of the CIC Board of Directors, said the addition of the two new organizations "helps extend the reach of CIC to key areas for the development of both the CMP and APEX programs."CMP stands for Certified Meeting Professional, the most widely accepted certification in the meetings industry; and APEX stands for Accepted Practices Exchange, CIC's initiative to win industry-wide adoption of recognized best practices in meetings management.The Association of Collegiate Conference and Events Directors-International consists of more than 1,500 meeting planners, who represent about 640 educational institutions and 41 corporations in the United States, Canada, and Britain. The collegiate niche is annually responsible for more than 133,000 conferences and events, which together bring more than 4.5 million people to campuses. The International Association of Association Management Companies consists of 143 association management companies, which provide professional services to more than 2,000 volunteer-governed organizations and for-profit companies.